Chapter 139: 138. Consulted

"Personal safes for your cabins is easy enough," Tamsin responded after a sip of her drink. "Just talk to Helen tomorrow, she'll be able to show you a variety of options and you can pick whatever best suits your requirements."

She had another sip of her fruity cocktail then added, "I wouldn't even bother asking the shipyard to install them. Just get them delivered to the Demeter, Cam and Sarah can install them wherever you want. That'll save a bit of money, plus it means you don't have to let strangers into your personal cabins."

My blonde girlfriend couldn't help teasing, "Shouldn't you be trying to up-sell your employer's services Tamsin? I hope you won't get into trouble telling us how to save money and suggesting we do the work ourselves instead of paying the shipyard to do it for us."

"This is why I'm not in sales," the young mechanic laughed. "And why I'm not in a 'front office' position either. Anyways I'm sure you'd be suggesting the same thing right? Us mechanics are always looking for the most efficient way to solve the problem."

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "Thanks Tamsin, but that was never the real issue. Getting our hands on some small personal safes is easy, the hard question is about a ship's safe that isn't obviously a safe and doesn't take up a cubic meter of my cabin."

Tamsin shrugged, "There's loads of options, it's just a question of priorities. We could..."

Her voice trailed off as the waiter arrived at our table with our meals. It was evening local-time, all the salvage had been offloaded from the Demeter and Tamsin finished her shift. So Rebecca Sarah Cam and I met up with the boss's friend, and all five of us rode our grav-sled into the city for a nice meal at one of the fancy restaurants.

Jenny was invited too of course, but our AI opted to remain with the ship instead. She said she'd feel out of place since she couldn't eat, so instead she was taking advantage of our time on Rolandan-2 to further expand her education.

The meals all looked and smelled amazing. I had a steak filet with roasted vegetables and my mouth was almost watering the moment the plate was in front of me. It was the same for the others too. We all got our drinks topped up as well, my two girlfriends were both drinking some fancy local ale while Tamsin and I had fruity cocktails. Cam was the only one avoiding alcohol tonight, they opted for a soft drink instead.

"So like I was saying," Tamsin continued after the waiter left and we'd all got started on our dinner, "You've got loads of options. It boils down to what your priorities are? Are you looking for maximum security? Or is it more about not leaving valuables out in plain sight? Do you want to be able to access the contents quickly at any time, or is it ok if there's a bit of a process involved? Do you want to keep it on the lower deck, or can you move it to the main deck? If we can work through these questions then that'll narrow down the options, and we'll go from there."

Rebecca looked thoughtful as she enjoyed a big forkful of her prime rib. Then she glanced at me as she replied, "Amanda's main complaint was that I'm just leaving that stuff on a shelf where anyone can pick it up and walk off with it."

I blushed slightly but stayed quiet as I enjoyed another bite of my delicious steak.

Meanwhile the boss continued, "Not that anyone's ever stolen from the Demeter like that. Maybe because I don't leave both holds wide open when there's nobody around to monitor what's going on down there? Plus that stuff's in the secondary hold, so even if I've got the main hold opened up for loading or offloading the connecting doors would be sealed."

"It seems to me that hardened security would be lower down on the list," Sarah suggested as she glanced between me and our redheaded girlfriend. "I know Rebecca was worried that a big obvious safe would just draw more attention, so maybe the primary focus should be on something concealed or hidden?"

Tamsin nodded as she munched on another bite of her dinner. Then after washing that down with a gulp of her drink she asked, "So would the next priority be ease of access? Or is hardened security still a goal, after concealment?"

Rebecca frowned, "I don't want to go through any complicated procedures. And I definitely don't want to have to break out a toolkit or something? Like I hope you're not thinking about just wedging strongboxes in behind wall panels or something like that."

"I'm not thinking about anything yet," the young mechanic laughed. "Or I'm thinking about everything? Right now we're just narrowing down the possibilities."

That remained the topic of conversation over dinner. Both Cam and I listened quietly, but neither of us got involved in the discussion. I felt a little guilty about that, considering it was my suggestion to secure that stuff in the first place.

Tamsin was mostly just asking questions to try and understand the boss's priorities, while Rebecca provided answers and also let us know what sorts of things she didn't want to deal with. And Sarah chimed in now and then with suggestions and comments, or occasionally some questions of her own. By the time we'd all finished eating it sounded like the boss's friend had come up with a solution.

"You're talking about smuggling compartments," Rebecca frowned as she drained the last of her ale.

Tamsin shrugged, "I suppose you could call it that? Honestly there's not much need for smugglers' compartments in this sector, since almost nobody polices imports or exports. You certainly don't have anyone monitoring the shipping lanes and demanding to inspect cargo."

"Apart from pirates," Sarah joked. "I imagine they might be in the business of stopping ships so they can get a look at the cargo."

Our redheaded girlfriend rolled her eyes, "Pirates aren't going to just steal the cargo then let you and your ship go. In my experience they're as interested in the ship as they are whatever she's carrying. In which case secret compartments aren't going to do you much good if you're dead and they take the whole ship."

The ravenette mechanic didn't bother commenting on that detail. Instead she continued, "We still get the occasional request to install those sorts of secret compartments. Obviously I can't discuss any specifics, but there's enough ships around that travel between sectors. And there's some that do regular runs all the way to the Imperium and back."

"So where would you install something like that on the Demeter?" the boss asked.

"Off-hand, I don't know?" the mechanic shrugged again. "It's been long enough since I last worked on that ship myself, I don't remember all the specifics. I'd need another look at her to refresh my memory."

Then she suggested, "How about I come back to the Demeter after we're all finished here? Maybe Sarah and Cam and I can poke around and figure out the best locations, and the best way to implement it?"

Sarah couldn't help teasing, "You know our first date's going well when she asks to come back to our place afterwards."

A slight blush appeared on Tamsin's cheeks as she responded, "I just thought we might come up with some ideas, if we had a closer look at the Demeter's compartments."

"So that's what they call it on this world?" our blonde engineer asked as her grin shifted to a smirk. "You want to come back to our place and inspect our compartments?"

Despite her blush Tamsin quipped back, "I sure do, but I'll understand if you're not comfortable showing me your compartments on our first date."

Rebecca looked like she was trying not to smile as she stated, "Down, Sarah. And Tamsin."

"Sorry boss," Sarah apologized, although she and the ravenette mechanic were both still smiling at each other. "Anyways I'm up for having a look around the ship after dinner, if that works for the rest of you?"

Tamsin was all for it, and the rest of us didn't have any objections, so it was decided. At one point the waiter topped up everyone's drinks again, but after that we'd all just about had enough. Rebecca took care of the bill, then we all headed out of the restaurant together.

As the five of us climbed into the grav-sled for the trip back to the ship Sarah joked, "I can't believe we've already outgrown a four-seat sled. Maybe we can trade it in for an upgrade?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes as she got behind the controls, and Sarah took the seat next to her. Meanwhile Tamsin Cam and I squeezed into the second row.

Then as the boss guided us up into the sky the boss glanced back at me and smiled, "I don't know, if Amanda keeps getting smaller it probably won't be an issue after all."

"Unless her tail keeps getting longer," the blonde engineer responded with a grin.

By that point my cheeks were red, while Tamsin turned and gave me a funny look.

"I thought I was just imagining things," the ravenette mechanic stated, "But you really did get shorter, didn't you?"

I mumbled, "A little. I didn't think anyone would notice? It honestly wasn't that big a change."

Tamsin continued to stare at me for a few more seconds before she grimaced, "Even though I know how you did it, it's still pretty amazing. People generally don't get smaller."

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"Says the girl who used to be six feet tall," Rebecca 'whispered' just loud enough for all of us to hear.

That left Tamsin blushing too as she grumbled, "That was different. That wasn't me getting smaller, that was going from Mel to me. Amanda didn't change into someone else, she's still herself but smaller."

"I'm not even sure if it counts since her tail got longer," Sarah reminded everyone again. "Her overall length didn't really change, if you measure her from nose to tail."

Cam had been mostly quiet through dinner but they spoke up now, "You don't really need to get a whole new grav-sled, we can just add some extra seats to this one. We could scavenge some seats or a little bench from someplace and fit it into the cargo bed at the back of the sled."

"We could even fashion some detachable brackets," they added. "Then the extra row of seats would be removable. That way we'll have the option of either cargo or extra passenger seating."

Sarah smiled, "Good thinking!"

Both Tamsin and I were still blushing through most of the short flight back to the Demeter. Jenny was obviously keeping track of us, she had the ramp down and the main airlock doors open just as we arrived. So Rebecca carefully brought the grav-sled into the main hold, then set it down on the deck next to our android crewmate who was waiting to greet us.

"Thanks Jenny," Rebecca said as we all climbed out of the sled. "Can you please seal up the ship for now? Tamsin and Sarah have decided to do a little work this evening. Then I expect we'll probably continue the social side of things for a while after that."

"Of course captain. What sort of work, if I may ask?" Jenny responded as the ramp started to rise up and the main airlock began to close.

Sarah responded with a grin, "We're looking for places to install some smuggling compartments."

The android raised an eyebrow as she asked the captain, "Oh? Are we branching out into a new line of work?"

"Not really," Rebecca rolled her eyes. "It's Amanda's project, so we can stow the valuables someplace out of sight."

My ears and tail all drooped a bit as I grimaced, "I really didn't think it'd be such a big deal? I just thought it was strange leaving a fortune in cash out in the open like that."

Tamsin agreed, "It's definitely unusual. Rebecca's always been rather unique though. Then again so was Gabe."

"How about we get started?" Sarah suggested at that point. "The rest of you can go take it easy if you want, me and Tamsin can handle it. Or Cam you're welcome to help out too? I know you're not as familiar with the ship yet, but this might be a good way to learn."

Rebecca Jenny and I headed up to the main deck together while the three mechanics stayed below for now. The three of us got comfortable in the lounge, after my girlfriend and I helped ourselves to some drinks. The two of us were on the sofa as usual, with my tail in the tall redhead's lap so she could cuddle and stroke my floof.

Cam joined the three of us a few minutes later. The cat-kin got a soft drink from the galley then sat in one of the comfortable chairs next to Jenny. They were blushing slightly as they admitted, "I was just getting in the way down there."

"Sarah and Tamsin are both old-school engineers," Rebecca responded. "I know they can get pretty excited about obscure complicated tech stuff."

Jenny added, "I'm sure once you're more comfortable as part of the crew and more familiar with the ship itself that won't be a problem Cam."

"Yes ma'am," the cat-kin mumbled as their cheeks got a little brighter for some reason.

That led to a bit of an awkward silence, which Jenny broke after a minute or two. "What are our plans for tomorrow?"

Rebecca replied, "I'll be meeting with Helen at some point to review the value of the salvage. And I suppose depending on what Sarah and Tamsin figure out tonight we might talk about getting smuggler's compartments installed somewhere. And some small personal safes for all the cabins too."

"Maybe I can take Cam into the city then?" I suggested. "We can get them some custom-tailored clothes and footwear? I need a few more things myself too. What do you think Cam? Want to do some shopping tomorrow? It's a lot nicer and a lot safer here than Port Ecclestone."

They had another gulp of their drink then nodded, "That sounds good. I'm curious to see those custom clothes-making machines you and Sarah mentioned."

"Perfect," I smiled. Then I asked the android, "Jenny would you like to come with us? Or is there anything we can pick up for you while we're in the city?"

The AI replied, "No thank you Amanda. I've already ordered some additional parts and a few other things. Then perhaps I'll enlist Sarah's and Cam's help once we're en route again."

"More upgrades for your android body?" Rebecca asked.

"That's correct captain," Jenny nodded.

At that point Sarah and Tamsin joined the rest of us. Or rather, Tamsin came into the lounge and took a seat at the little table with Cam and Jenny, while Sarah headed over to the galley to get the two engineers some drinks.

"Hey Amanda can you give me a hand please?" my blonde girlfriend asked.

At the same time my redheaded girlfriend addressed the brunette mechanic, "So what's the verdict? Did you find somewhere to stuff a secret compartment?"

Tamsin started talking about a few potential locations while I got up and headed across to the mess, where Sarah was pouring a couple glasses of whiskey. She seemed to have the drinks already sorted so I was a little confused why she needed my help.

"What did you need a hand with?" I asked.

Sarah took a quick peak over her shoulder to confirm everyone else was still in the lounge. Then she quietly admitted, "It's about Tamsin. Since we got back to the ship she's been all over me, and she's made it pretty clear she'd like to spend the night..."

"Oh," my eyes widened slightly as I suddenly understood why Cam was blushing earlier about feeling 'in the way' of the two engineers.

I asked just as softly, "So what do you want to do about her?"

"I guess I'm asking your permission?" my girlfriend half-whispered. "And if you're ok with that, maybe you could join Rebecca in her cabin tonight?"

It took me a few moments to process that. I thought about our relationship with each other, and with Rebecca. I also remembered how Tamsin seemed to bond with Sarah in the days after emerging from the Re/Gen capsule. And with all that in mind, I made my decision.

"Ok Sarah," I nodded. "You two have fun."

She gave me a look that was equal parts grateful and loving, "Thank you Amanda."